HONG KONG (Reuters) – China women’s head coach Ante Milicic believes the reigning Asian champions must stop dwelling on past success or risk falling further behind the game’s leading nations as investment in the sport increases globally.
The Australian was appointed to the role in May last year after the Steel Roses’ poor showing at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the failure to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games led to the departure of former coach Shui Qingxia.
Shui had steered the country to a record ninth Women’s Asian Cup in 2022 but the team’s inability to challenge on the global stage has represented a major shortcoming for the 1999 Women’s World Cup runners-up and nine-times Asian champions.
“I think you’ve got to get a real understanding of the evolution of the women’s game,” Milicic told Reuters.
“The dynamics have changed now. You’ve only got to look at the recent Euros in Switzerland. The speed of the game has improved and the professionalism and the quality. We’ve even had the transfer of the first million pound player in England.
“Yes, we’re defending Asian champions but those tournaments, four years prior, that’s a long time ago and things change.”
The Chinese will look to retain the Women’s Asian Cup when the next edition is played in Australia in March, with Milicic’s side set to go into that tournament as outsiders.
China are currently ranked 16th in the world, eight spots behind Japan, Asia’s best-placed nation, while also trailing North Korea and Australia.
The drop down the rankings comes after Shui’s squad made a group stage exit at the World Cup before failing to reach the final round of Asia’s Olympic qualifiers, and Milicic has since overseen the start of the team’s rejuvenation.
The 51-year-old, who led Australia at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, has had 16 months so far to begin that process and is confident matters are moving in the right direction.
“You could see that a generation of strong players was coming towards the back end of their career,” he said.
On Malawi’s Ndirande mountain, a group of climbers are tackling a towering rock face.
“They wanted to integrate some new faces, young faces, as soon as possible. It was a bit of a rebuild, but the main thing was that there was time to get an understanding of the landscape.”
In a country where the women have outperformed their male counterparts on the international stage, expectations of further success are inflated but Milicic insists he is impervious to the pressure.